Millennials avoid social media insurance interactions, study shows

News | Social media | Engaging content | Overall brand

Millennials are a curious group of workers for managers to adapt to and manage, with their own personal demands regularly changing.

This generation of workers are quick to learn the latest trends and technologies and companies who do not adapt to their suggestions and ways of working could be in danger of losing their top performers.

With this in mind, businesses need to be detailed with their marketing and gain a strong idea of what their consumers want in order to perform at their maximum level.

It may be the case that your team want informative and engaging content, or they are looking for entertaining videos. Whatever you do, you need to ensure it fits in with your overall brand and its values.

How should businesses approach their social media strategies?

Social media is one channel that has skyrocketed in recent years, with companies from a range of sectors using the medium to engage their existing customers and attract new ones.

However, networks such as Twitter and Facebook only work effectively for certain sectors and it appears that the insurance industry is one where millennials have not been open to using the channels.

A study from Decode and Pegasystems found that only eight per cent of respondents ranked receiving a reply from a tweet as being important to them when selecting and buying insurance.

The ability to talk to someone in person or on the telephone when interacting with an insurer was the second highest ranking preference (42 per cent). Having access to insurance information online was ranked as the third most important preference for respondents (35 per cent).

Dr Paul Redmond, who worked on the study, said: “While maybe surprising to insurers, these results confirm much of what we’re discovering about Millennials and the way that they behave.

“They don’t see themselves as digitally savvy because for them digital and social tools are a given, and it’s clear that a strong bias exists for wanting to deal with actual people.”

Mr Redmond went on to say that social media is mainly used for social transactions by young people, as many view the channel with suspicion when it comes to vital financial choices.

With this in mind, it is important that companies introduce a social media strategy that is focused on their target audience. Regardless of the sector, marketers need to have a strong idea of their demographic’s interests and preferences.

It may be the case that a business is focusing on delivering products and services to people over 40, in which case social media marketing needs to be approached tactically.

Rather than choosing a basic strategy that is aimed at a general audience, marketers need to look at the habits of their consumers and come up with a plan that gives them the maximum chance of appealing to their audience.